


Will you be my partner in crime?

by Esteicy



Series: Quicksilver Week 2020 [5]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel (House of M)
Genre: Alternate Universe - House of M, Arranged Marriage, Betrayal, M/M, Partners in Crime, Past Namor/Pietro Maximoff, Post Secret Wars: House of M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25303369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esteicy/pseuds/Esteicy
Summary: After his betrayal against his family Pietro must accept the punishment his father has decided for him, get married with the man he has chosen for him, a total stranger.But soon he will discover his father may be actually doing him a favor and giving him a chance to get his revenge.
Relationships: Maximus Boltagon/Pietro Maximoff
Series: Quicksilver Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802380
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Will you be my partner in crime?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Necropede](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Necropede/gifts).



> Hello! This fic was supposed to be for the last day of the Quicksilver Week but it got longer than expected and decided to just take a little break.
> 
> But here it is! Finished and ready to post.
> 
> It's supposed to be a sequel to SW: HoM but I didn't read the comic while writing this so any mistake or weird stuff you may notice compared to the comic counterpart...artistic freedom :v
> 
> The original idea for this goes to my creative friend Tomo, thanks for letting me use it :3
> 
> With no more to add please read and enjoy!

When Erik told his children he was looking for an appropriate candidate to marry Pietro off everyone thought that idea was just ridiculous, Pietro included, who would want to marry a prince that has lost his right to the throne and that had been involved in a failed attack to the king? Sure Erik had done everything in his power to make the public believe Pietro had been only a victim of Namor’s schemes but that wouldn’t just magically clean his reputation, if not a traitor then only a weak fool.

Pietro didn’t feel any enthusiasm with the idea of marrying a total stranger, especially not after what happened with Namor, but didn’t do anything to oppose his father’s wishes, afraid that it could make him lose the little patience he still had for him. He just expected no one would take the offer.

But of course things were never like Pietro expected them, it was a big surprised when Erik announced that king Black Bolt of the Inhumans had shown great interest in taking Pietro’s hand for his younger brother, prince Maximus, and that they would be visiting the kingdom.

“I didn’t know king Black Bolt had a brother” Pietro whispered blinking.

“I’ve heard his health doesn’t allow him to leave Attilan too often” Wanda commented.

“Also that he seems to be a brilliant inventor but doesn’t appear to have any other extraordinary power like the rest of the inhuman family that was exposed to their mists” Lorna added.

“Well I’ve heard he is crazy, they even call him Maximus the Mad!” Tommy laughed and Erik looked at him frowning, making him shut up.

“His brother has informed me of his mental illness but I assure you is nothing to worry about, he is receiving treatment for that and for his physical health he guaranteed me that Maximus had gotten stronger with the years, so you could live outside of Attilan if you get married, son.”

“ _If_ I get married? Oh it’s nice that you act like if this is a possibility and not a chance you will immediately take, father” he said bitterly “You’re desperate to get me out of here and marriage is the best noncontroversial option for you, it will even get you a nice political alliance with another kingdom! Of course you will…”

“Pietro!” he hit the table making him shake and look away “Don’t talk to me that way boy, I’m not being unfair with you, if I was a different man you would be in prison for your crimes against your own family but I’m instead offering you the option of an honorable marriage and a free life, be grateful for once in your life.”

He pressed his lips hard and looked down at his hands, he knew his father was right about this being a way softer punishment but it still being so humiliating, being handed to the first man that would show at their open doors. Not so long ago he had expected to be king of this whole nation and now he was a burden they wanted away.

“Yes…” was the only thing he murmured before leaving the room quickly.

* * *

Wanda knocked at his door before opening it softly, she was worried for her brother, even after what he did she couldn’t bring herself to hate him or wish any harm on him, a part of him could understand his resentment against their father, the man always had been so hard and cold to him that it was painful to watch. When a kid Pietro had tried in every way to please him only to receive his indifference, but when he did something wrong Erik wouldn’t lose time in reprimand him, the king tried to justify himself with hardening Pietro to be a proper future king, but that excuse became nothing when he decided his son was too inept to be the ruler of Genosha, directing all his praises to Lorna, his little prodigy.

During those weeks Wanda felt guilty, maybe if she had stepped in and defended her brother of the unfair treatment…maybe if she had tried to make Lorna see how wrong this rivalry between siblings was…but lamenting about the past was useless, there was nothing she or anyone could do to change what Pietro had done and now he alone had to pay for his terrible mistakes.

“Brother…the king and prince will be here soon” she whispered looking at the man that was lying on the bed, his back turned at her “Please get dressed…I know it must be horrible the idea of having to meet your future husband like this but…maybe he will be a good man, maybe he will treat you better than father ever did.”

“Namor was nice…” he said, his voice hollow and sad “He acted like a good man and that didn’t stop him from hurting me in the worst way.”

“Brother…please, I only want you to be happy” she came to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Even after what I did?” he asked closing his eyes hard.

“If I was the one who committed such treason…I know you would forgive me” she nodded.

“…you are right, I would” he sit on the bed and sighed “I will do what father wants one more time…even if I know nothing I do will ever make him happy.”

He prepared himself and went with his sister to wait for the inhuman brothers, the rest of his family already there. When the servants announced the arrival of the royals and opened the doors Pietro looked down for a moment, a childish part of him believing that if he didn’t look at them, if he didn’t take part of what was happening then he could pretend it was a dream.

But a little hit on his arm courtesy of Wanda made him leave that behind and look up just in time to see a lovely young man standing in front of him with a charming smile.

He was a little bit shorter than Pietro, his hair was black and even if it wasn’t too long it looked messy in a cute way, his big blue eyes were looking at the prince with attention…maybe too much attention, it reminded Pietro to how sometimes little kids would stare at people, ignoring that it was rude. His clothes consisted in an elegant black outfit and a long black and white coat, boots and gloves.

“I assume you must be prince Pietro, right?” he said stepping forward with a big smile in his lips “You have white hair and are quite beautiful, that’s the description they gave me…but they didn’t do any justice to your beauty! You are a delight for my eyes” he took his hand and softly kissed it.

“Ah…yes that’s me?” he said taken aback by how much this man seemed to not care about social boundaries, he couldn’t just address him like that! Much less in front of his father, that made him blush deeply.

Black Bolt grabbed his brother’s shoulder and made him look at his clearly angry face, then looked at Erik and made some gestures with his hands that Pietro recognized as sign language.

“No need to apologize king Black Bolt, I can understand he isn’t used to visit another kingdoms” Erik tried to not act too shocked by the unexpected first impression “And well we wouldn’t want excessive formalisms impeding the princes to interact freely.”

“Yes dear brother no need to be so serious! I’ll be good, didn’t I promise that?” he laughed and looked at the rest “Hello to everyone else.”

Pietro’s sisters were just as shocked as the rest while Wanda’s kids were fascinated with Maximus’s carefree behavior, he looked like a cool guy.

“Hehe…charming boy” Erik did his best to force a smile.

Pietro looked at his father raising an eyebrow, man he really was desperate to marry him with anyone…but his face was amusing, he had to admit that.

“Prince Maximus…these are my sisters princess Wanda and princess Lorna, and my nephews prince Thomas and prince William” he said while gesturing to them, they all bowed gracefully.

“A pleasure” Maximus and Black Bolt also bowed “So I was told we would have lunch?” Max asked immediately after that.

“Of course, please come here” Erik turned and raised his eyebrows when they couldn’t see him, this prince was certainly something else but with Pietro’s situation he couldn’t be picky.

Once they were all sitting the food was served, Pietro was sitting in front of the peculiar prince while his father and the other king talked business. He had to admit this man was interesting, still not completely convinced if he liked the idea of marrying him but at least was intrigued.

Maximus was eating enthusiastically, his eyes on the plate until he felt Pietro staring at him, then he looked at him and smiled. In that moment Pietro could see something in his eyes…was it the light? Because for a fraction of second it looked like if they were…

“Glowing” Maximus said leaning back on his chair “They were…or should I say they are?” he blinked and his eyes started unmistakably glowing with a blue light.

“What?!” Pietro moved surprised by this but his shock only increased when he looked around and noticed everyone had disappeared, his family, the servants, anyone except for him and Maximus “What the hell is going on? Where are they? What did you do?!” he demanded for answers standing and looking at him angrily.

“Oh please don’t be altered my prince, I assure you they are just where they we left them…and so are we!” he blinked one more time and they were back to the normal lunch for a second before appearing again in the empty room “You see we are on a mental projection of that room, basically this is all happening in out minds.”

Pietro’s face showed his angry confusion, walking to him he grabbed his shirt and lifted him from his chair.

“What kind of game are you playing, Boltagon?”

“No game here! Even if I think they are funny, look I will show you! Anything can be done here” he snapped his fingers and the place was replaced by a beach, then a forest, a city, a frozen cave, a spaceship and finally a nice library “See? There is not such a thing as limits here” before even finishing his phrase he appeared away from Pietro, sitting in a comfortable chair and drinking some coffee “And there is no pain either so don’t try to fight me, I only wish to talk with you in private.”

Pietro was even more confused, he tried hitting his arm with his fist and no pain came from it…he knew that mental powers could be impressive and that something like this wouldn’t be impossible but there was something that wasn’t making sense then.

“You didn’t have powers” he said going to sit in front of him, crossing his arms.

“Wrong, my powers weren’t evident and my parents assumed the only gift I got was my advantaged intellect, truth is I got telepathy but decided to hide it from everyone else.”

“Why would you do something like that?”

“When your parents treat your whole existence like a little experiment you want to hide things from them, who knows what they would have done if they knew” he shrugged “And you know about hiding stuffs from your father, don’t you prince Pietro?”

“What do you…”

“I don’t buy the whole thing of you not wanting to help Namor” he interrupted him “You helped him and then that fish brain got too greedy, right? Oh atlanteans, my people never had a good relationship with them.”

Pietro pressed his teeth and growled, pressing the arms of the sit while looking at the inhuman suspicious and defensive.

“Well if you know that then why the hell did you come here?”

“Because we aren’t so different Pietro…actually I would say we are too similar, my brother also wants to get rid of me because I attempted against him” he deadpan answered.

“…what?” well that was as surprise.

“I got tired of being locked, of being mistreated, of being less! I did always everything they wanted except for hiding my powers, I tried to be the perfect little prince and brother but they never appreciated it, no matter what I do I’ll be the crazy boy that caused his parents death! Well I’m done with that crap, I tried to force my brother out the throne by sabotaging a bunch of stuffs in our kingdom, make the people hate him! But it backfired and now he wants his crazy brother away because he knows a cell won’t be enough and he loves me too dearly to have me killed or something like that.”

Pietro was wondering if he didn’t enter a coma and this was some hallucination of his dying mind.

“Hey! I’m opening about something really intimate here and you could be nice and listen” he crossed his arms.

“Sorry, this is all…what do you want from me?” he sighed.

“For starters a way to escape from this situation” he made a face “When the council decided to marry me off I was afraid I would end up married with some creepy old man that would keep me his trophy wife or something, no thanks! So when my brother suggested you I immediately started my research and I liked what I found, handsome and wicked, just my thing!” he smiled at him.

Pietro blushed and looked away, why he had to be so direct? And there was something in the way he smiled, even if it was kind of weird he also found it oddly cute.

“And what else?”

“A partner in crime!” he laughed and clapped his hands “You want your daddy out of the throne and I want my brother out of his, maybe our attempts didn’t work separated but together we can do it!”

“Okay wait right there, you want us to work together into betraying our families?” he asked and Maximus nodded eagerly “Why would you want me as a partner? Or even better why would I trust you as one? I don’t know you! I trusted someone once and it was a terrible mistake!” he yelled defensive.

The mutant prince could feel a bitter sensation in his mouth remembering how Namor broke his heart, he loved him so much, he did everything for him and gave him everything! Tricked in a perfect fantasy that collapsed on his head when the Atlantean showed his true colors, when he cruelly let him know what he thought about him, just an annoying tool in his plan, something to use and throw away when it wasn’t useful anymore…it was horrible, Pietro wasn’t willing to feel that pain again.

“I want you because as I told you I feel we aren’t so different, I think you can understand me better than anyone, understand my motivations and my goals…and because I see potential in you” he looked at him right in his eyes “Everyone here underestimate you, right? They act like you aren’t a real threat, I mean if after what happened your father keeps you around and so free is because he is stupid enough to believe you won’t attack again, I can bet that even that annoying fishman didn’t respect you…” Pietro didn’t answer but the way he looked down ashamed said everything “Just like me! So many take a look at me and see a poor sick and crazy boy that can be kept in a little golden cage, but I can make their lives a nightmare if I desire just like you did with your old man, being underestimated is our strength! Your father, Namor, all of them can be proved wrong if you take my help and accept to help me as well.”

“I must admit something Maximus, you give really good speeches and say what people want to hear but that doesn’t really tell me _why_ I should trust you” he said after a moment thinking his answer.

“I like that you learned to not be so trusting, at least something good came from that fishman” he chuckled “Unfortunately I can’t give you much more than my word which you may think is worthless, I know, but ask yourself this...what could you lose? You already are lost, just an annoyance everyone wants away, your throne will be for daddy’s little girl and you will be forgotten…unless you do something, right now I’m your only chance to try something again and with my powers and intellect it won’t be a failure.”

“You are right I don’t have much left to lose, I’ve already lost my home, my crown and the already few respect I had from my father…the only thing I still keeping is my life.”

“Do you prefer to live a life of shame and regret or to try another time and get your revenge?”

“Would I risk my life for revenge?” he smiled watching him intensely, the question was pronounced for Maximus and for himself.

“Would you if I offer you revenge against the king that betrayed your heart as well?” he whispered, his eyes equally intense in his glance.

“…you can?” now that was tempting.

“Of course! With enough resources we could take Atlantis if we wanted, both of our kingdoms are powerful separated and even more united, don’t you think?”

“And you would help me with that?”

“Yes I would, if we get married it would be just appropriate that I hurt back those who betrayed my dear husband” he smiled and tilted his head.

“You are an odd individual Maximus” he chuckled shaking his head “But well my father and your brother will get us married no matter what so…I think I could risk myself again with a new deal, and be assured that I know how to be loyal with those that earn it.”

“I have no reason to damage you Pietro…so I hope I can earn it” he extended his hand “Deal then?”

“Yes, let’s see how it goes I don’t have anything left to lose” he accepted his hand.

“And a lot to win!” he laughed.

Oh Pietro liked his laugh…oh no he wouldn’t be catching feelings this time! They just made things harder and confused him, it was better to leave everything in a professional level, good for business. Maximus had the same idea about him, pretty face but no feelings allowed here, just two princes taking the power by any way needed.

Of course you can’t really command your heart like that, it’s not a rational fellow.

By the end of that day Erik and Black Bolt had agreed that both kingdoms would be benefited by their political union, ignoring they were creating an even bigger threat for themselves.

But that’s a story…for another occasion.

**Author's Note:**

> I had even more ideas to work with but it was already getting longer than planned and I wanted to post NOW, that's why the ending is so...like that xD
> 
> Maximus is always fun to write and I love to let him interact with Pietro in a less hostile scenario, they can be cute.
> 
> Some parts are basically a hate letter to Namor and I find that amusing(?), bad boyfriend who betrays his boyfriend. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this, I had fun writing it. Any kudo and comment will be loved. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Kisses 💕


End file.
